Composite multi-color or colorable yarn structures



Stats U5. (:1. 57-440 19 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE This inventionrelates to multicolor or colorable composite-yarn structures and to themethod of preparing same which comprises simultaneously crimping,entangling and twisting a plurality of continuous, synthetic filamentscomprising at least two nylon filaments obtained from polyamides, eachdilfering from the other by at least 12 milliequivalents of terminalamine-end groups per kilogram of polymer.

This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 628,371, filed onApr. 4, 1967, now US. Pat. 3,460,336.

This invention is directed to multi-colored or colorable texturizedcomposited-yarn structures and to a process of preparing same. Morespecifically, this invention is directed to multi-colorable yarnstructures which are particularly useful in preparing tweed-liketextiles of improved heatherness and are relatively free of coring orstreaking and chevroning. Still further, this invention relates toimproved multi-colorable yarns useful in the manufacturing of tweedcarpets and the like.

Heretofore, tweed-like or multi-dye single-end filament yarns wereproduced by combining two or more differently dyed textured yarn in aknitting, commingling, twisting and/or Weaving operation. In producing,however, the continuous filament multi-dyed single-end yarns inaccordance with any one or a combination of the above-stated operations,certain construction or surface streaks were formed in the final dyedproduct. For the most part, these surface streaks were due to theunequal distribution of each of the dilferently dyed filaments on thesurfaces of the yarn bundles in the product. Thus, these streaks wereprevalent primarily because of the deficiencies in the construction orcombining processes used in preparing the multi-dyed filament ends.

Because of these deficiencies, it was almost impossible to prepare astreak-free, multi-dyed, tweed-like textile, e.g., tweed carpets and thelike. Consequently, due to the inability to produce a substantiallystreak-free, multi-dyed yarn for commercial use, the public acceptanceof tweedlike products has been significantly reduced.

To avoid these and other problems and to provide substantiallystreak-free, multi-colored or colorable textured yarns, it has beenfound that improved composited-yarn structures may be obtained bysimultaneously crimping a plurality of continuous synthetic filaments toa crimp level of 8 to 20 crimps per inch. These synthetic filaments mustcomprise at least two nylon filaments prepared from polyamides, eachdiffering from the other by at least 12 milliequivalents of terminalamine-end groups per kilogram of polymer. The composited or crimpedsynthetic filaments comprising an effective amount of the differentcolorable nylon filaments are then subjected to a mechanical operationincluding entangling to a level of at least 25 entanglements per meterand twisting to a level of about 0 to 2.0 turns per inch. Themulti-color or colorable textured yarn structures prepared in accordancewith this invention may be characterized as composited bulk yarns icehaving 8 to crimps per inch, at least or more entanglements per meterand 0 to 2 turns per inch. These composited yarns are particularlyuseful in the preparation of textile structures, e.g., carpets, having atweed-like character with improved uniformity with respect tochevroning, coring or streaking.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a process forpreparing streak-free, multi-colored or colorable composited-yarn ortextile structures comprising at least two nylon filaments prepared frompolyamides, each differing from the other by at least 12milliequivalents of terminal amine-end groups per kilogram of polymer.

It is another object of this invention to provide a process forpreparing multi-colored or colorable bulk yarn structures particularlyuseful in the production of tweedlike textiles having improvedheatherness and are substantially free of coring and chevroning.

It is another object of this invention to provide means of avoiding thedisadvantages of prior processes which required dyeing the dilferentyarns before forming the tweed, which added to the overall cost ofproducing the products.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a processwhereby improved composited-yarn structures are obtained which areparticularly suitable for the preparation of tweed textiles of improvedquality at reduced manufacturing costs.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide newmulti-colorable textile structures useful for preparing tweed-likefabrics or carpets having improved uniformity with respect to coring,chevroning and the like.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from afurther and more detailed description to follow.

More specifically, this invention relates to a process and the productsobtained thereby for preparing teX- turized, streak-free, multi-color orcolorable compositedyarn and textile structures comprising at least twonylon filaments obtained from polyamides, each dilfering from the otherby at least 12, and preferably by at least 18, milliequivalents ofterminal amine-end groups per kilogram of polymer. These yarn structuresare particularly useful in preparing tweed-like textile structureshaving improved heatherness and are relatively free of coring andchevroning.

More particularly, these composited-yarn structures are prepared bysimultaneously crimping a plurality of continuous-synthetic nylonfilaments, which may include a minor amount of other syntheticfilaments, to a crimp level of 8 to 20, and preferably 10 to 18, crimpsper inch. Still more specifically, the synthetic filaments may compriseall or a major amount, i.e., 100% by weight, of at least two chemicallydilferent nylon filaments and a minor amount, i.e., less than about 50%by Weight, of at least one other synthetic filament selected from thegroup consisting of polyesters, e.g., polyethylene terephthalate,polyblends comprising a blend of polyethylene terephthalate and apolyamide, polypropylene, polyacrylics, and other known synthetic orman-made fibers including, for example, rayon, rayon acetate, thepolynosics and the like.

The relative proportions of the various polyamide filaments, whichdiffer from each other by at least 12 milliequivalents of terminalamine-end groups per kilogram of polymer, are such that the finalcomposited-yarn structures are multi-colorable because of the differencein the chemical structure of the polyamides. In other Words, if thesynthetic filaments comprise at least two polyamide filaments whichdiffer one from the other by at least 12 milliequivalents of terminalamine-end groups, the relative proportion of these two polyamidefilaments may obviously cover a wide range limited only by the necessityto have one of the polyamide filaments present with respect to theothers in an amount sufficient to impart multi-colorability to the finalyarn products. Thus, for example, where a plurality of two chemicallydifferent polyamide filaments are employed in preparing a particularyarn structure, one type of said filaments may be present in an amount,e.g., as low as and preferably by weight, with respect to the other typeof polyamide filaments, sufiicient to impart multi-colorability to thefinal yarn structure.

The plurality of synthetic filaments comprising the different polyamidefilaments are first simultaneously crimped to a level of 8 to 20 crimpsper inch and more preferably, to a level of 10 to 18 crimps per inch.The composited-crimped filament structures are then subjected to amechanical operation including (2) entangling to a level of at leastentanglements and preferably, to a level of to 100 and more preferablyto 30 to 60 entanglements per meter, and (3) twisting to a level of 0 to2.0 turns per inch, and preferably, to a level of 0.001 to 2.0 and morepreferably 0.7 to 1% turns per inch.

The individual untextured synthetic filaments are combined in apredetermined ratio as they enter the crimping device which imparts asaw-tooth crimp, e.g., stuifer box crimper, jet crimper, etc. Thecomposited multicolorable homogeneous yarn structures exiting from thecrimping device are then entangled and twisted to the levels indicated.However, it should be noted that the degree of heather, etc., desired inthe final products may be determined by the levels of entanglement andtwist employed. These yarns may be tufted or woven into carpets orknitted fabrics and then dyed with selective dyestuffs particularlysensitive to the chemical differences of the synthetic filaments toproduce multi-colorable, streak-free products.

One of the advantages in combining the various multicolorable filamentsduring texturizing, i.e., crimping, is the production of a single-endyarn at any one location in addition to obtaining yarn having somedegree of in-phase crimp in each of the diiferent dyeable filaments. Theinphase crimp prevents the separation of the individual filaments fromthe yarn bundle in the subsequent commingling and twisting operations.Thus, the possibility of obtaining multi-colorable yarns with adifferent distribution of each of the individual filaments on thesurface of the yarn bundle may be avoided.

The following examples are illustrations of the process and productsobtained in accordance with this invention.

EXAMPLE 1 Multi-colorable three-component nylon (polyamide)composited-yarn structures were prepared by adding specific terminatorsto e-caproamide. The light-dyeing component or filament was prepared byemploying acetic acid as the terminator. No terminator was employed inpreparing the medium-dyeing componentand metaxylidenediamine wasemployed in preparing the ultra-deep dyeing component. The polymers wereused to prepare the different filaments and were dried to a moisturecontent of less than 0.15% and then processed through a melt-spinningextruder at the rate of about 32 pounds per hour to obtain 1050 drawndenier filamentary yarns. The yarns were subsequently drawn to a UTS of4-6 grams/denier and to ultimate elongations of between 32% and 48%.

As shown in the following tables, Examples 1, 72 ends of feeder yarn orfilaments A, B and C were guided in combination to a preheated chamberto produce 24 combined yarn ends with three multi-colorable ends. Theends were then passed to a stufier box crimper at a lineal speed of 1460feet/minute Where the three components were crimped simultaneously. Theyarn discharging from the crimper rolls entered a stuffer box of twoinches in width where sufi'lcient pressure, e.g., between 20 and 35pounds/inch were supplied to obtain the level of crimp desired. (See thedata in Tables I, II and III.)

After the yarns exited from the stuffer box, they were deposited on abelt. Here, the point of yarn pickup on the crimper belt was fixed tomaintain the crimp at the desired level, as more particularly pointedout in co pending application Ser. No. 510,591, filed on Nov. 30, 1965,now US. Pat 3,406,436. The yarn was then passed through a shake-outladder and separated into 24 composited yarn ends, each of whichcontained the individual 1050/ denier yarn components A, B and C. These24 composited ends were then guided through a crimp removal zone where10 to 25% of the crimp level was removed and a 5% off-package creep-backwas reduced to less than 2%.

The composited yarn had a total unbulked denier of 3150 and 210filaments. The yarn was then passed through a commingling fluid-jetwhich is specifically described in copending application Ser. No.535,480, filed Mar. 18, 1966, now U. S. Pat. 3,473,315. In the jet, theyarn obtained 42 entanglements/meter at air pressures of 40 p.s.i.g. Theyarn was then passed through a continuous forwarding twisting devicewherein a twist level of 0.001 to 1% turns per inch may be applied.Subsequently, the yarn was carried to a traverse winder where the yarnwas wound on a 3% inch tube at a speed of about 1100 feet/ minute toobtain the finished package.

This particular yarn was then tufted and woven into carpets byconventional methods, as shown in the data in Tables II and III. Theyarns were subsequently dyed according to known procedures utilizing thediand trisulfonate anionic dyes to obtain products having a contrast ofgreater than 16 Gardner units between the individual filaments of theyarn.

TABLE I Light dye Intermediate colorable dye color-able Ultradeep dyecomponent component colorable component filaments A filaments Bfilaments 0 Fannie acid viscosity 58i2 54:|:3 52:|:3 Amine end-groups2213 505:4 78i2 Carboxyl end-groups- 70:5:5 48:1:4 163:5 Totalend-groups 92 98 104 Terminators employed Metaxylidenediamine 'liOz,percent U. 3 0. 2 0. 2 Filament cross section- Round Round RoundDenier/filament count 1050/70 1050/70 1050/70 Drawn physicals: Ultimatetensile strength, (1 5. 0 5. 0 5. 1 Ultimate elongation, percent 47:1:2465:2 Hi2 1 Acetic acid. 2 No terminator employed.

TABLE II Example 2 Separate crimp properties of A, B, C FilamentsExample 1 Light Intermediate Ultradeep dye colorable dye colorable dyecolorable A,B ,C component component component Criniped propertiescombined A B C Crimps per inch 15. 8 l7. 2 15. 1 15. 1

Crimp elongation alter boil, percent- 29.0 29. 2 28. 7 29. 1

Example 1 Example 3 Crimped properties A,I3,C, combined A, B, C,Combined Commingle entanglements/meter- 42 42 Twist, turns/inch 1.5S1.5S

Tufted into a carpet 16 oz. yd. 7 stitches/in 16 oz. yd. 7 stitches/in.

Streak ratings. No apparent construction s'treaks Variablte with 50streaks per 2.5x 24 carpe TABLE III Examples 4 5 6 7 8 Feeder yarn A, B,C A, B, C A, B, C A, B, C A, B,

Cross section Round Round Round Round Round Crimps/in 13 I3 13 13 13Crimp elongatio 27. 0 27 27 27 27 Eiitanglements/meter 42 42 42 42 42Twists, turns/in 0 3/48 1.0S 1.25 1.58

Carpet construction Tufted Woven Tufted Woven Tufted Woven Tufted WovenTufted Woven Streakiness 3 0 8 0 6 0 4 0 4 0 4 Rating, streakingExcellent Good Excellent Excellent Outstand- Outstand- Outstand-Outstand- Outstand- Outstandappearance. ing ing ing ing ing ing Heather,rating HN HL HL HL HL HL HM HM HS HS Carpet utility Designcharacteristics Z, SM Z, SM Max. C Max. C Med. C Med. C HM HM HS HS 1Tufted-l6 oz. yd), 7 stitches/in.-2 in. gage. I Design characteristics:2 Woven 8 x 8 construction produced at 216 pitch. A-massive design,space dye effect, 3 Streakiiiess, panel jury rating, streaks per 2.5 x24 of carpet evaluated. B-strong uniform tweed, 4 0-0.5 outstanding,.51.0 excellent, 1l.5 good, -25 lair. Clight heather, 5 Heatherness-HN,HL, HM, HS. D-medium heather, 6 Carpet utility. A E=strong heather, 7Contract commercial, im roved product. HN=heather not noticeable. 8Quality residential. 11L=light heather,

HM=Inedium heather, HS=strong heather.

Carpet utility: Designation By comparing the data in Table II, it isshown (Exam Contract commercialimproved product CC ple 1), that wherethe filaments were first composited si- Q l y resldentlal Q multaneouslyin a crimper and then commingled and twist- DeslgncharacteflstlcszebraStnPe & Marl ZSM ed, etc., there was a ten-foldreduction in streaks in com- Maxlmum contrast C paris-on to Examples 2and 3 where the filaments were Medlum contrast C 0 crimped separatelyand then entangled and twisted. EX-

It was unexpected to find that streaks could be ubamples 4 through 8 ofTable III further illustrate the efstantially or completely eliminatedby first crimping the fect of increasing the twist level from 0 to 1 /2turns per different filaments simultaneously, followed by an entaninchon carpets produced by both tufting and weaving glement and twlstlng tothe levels ll'ldlcated- The homo" procedures. Here, the woven carpetsexhibited a signifigeneity of the structures obtained by interminglingof the in-phase crimp after passing through the stufier box crimpervirtually excluded streaks from all of the textiles prepared from theseyarns. It was found that by passing the yarn filaments side-by-side, forexample, through a stufier box crimper, to impart a saw-tooth crimp,separation of one or more of the multi-colored components along cantlylower streak level in those instances where there was an increase intwist of 0 to 1.0 turn per inch. It should be noted also that both thetufted and woven structures had a significantly lower degree ofstreakiness in comparison to the structures prepared from filamentswhich were separately crimped and then entangled and twisted.

the strandular structure was prevented. Normally, separa- Ti theFollowing tajble illustrates a tion of the filaments Occurs during theSubsequent Opera ablllty of this invention to a variety of yarnmodifications tions including, for example, Sizing, dyeing tufling, Weavor cross sections. In Table IV, in Examples 9, 10 and 11, a

inc! etc Y-cross section was produced which, like the round crosssection of Examples 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, was free of streakiness.

TABLE IV Examples 9 10 11 Difierent nylon filaments D E F Formic acidrelative viscosity 60 50 53 Amines end-groups 22 50 78 Carboxylend-groups 70 48 25 Total end-groups 92 08 103 TlOz, percent 3 2 .2Filament cross type Y Y Y Total denier/denier/filament. 1125/70 1125/701125/70 Drawn physicals, UTS, g./d.. 4.8 4. 4.4 Ultimate elongation,percent- 36 36 44 Composited Yarns:

Feeder yarns DEF DEF DEF Examples l1 CrimpS/ineh 16. 1 16. 1 16. 1 Crimpelongation after boil. 29. 1 29. 1 29.1 Entanglements/meter 38 38 38Turns/inch 0 l. 0 Carpet type- Tufted Tufted Streakiness- 0 0 Carpetappearance rating,

freedom from streaks. Excellent Excellent Outstanding Carpet utllity CC,QR CC, QR CC, QR

EXAMPLE 12 Yarn was prepared in accordance with the procedure of Example1 except that polypropylene filaments were substituted for thelight-dyeing nylon filament. During the crimping, the temperature wasmaintained throughout the operation below about 140 C. to avoid fusingthe polypropylene filaments. After the yarn was passed through thecrimping device wherein the polypropylene filaments were simultaneouslyintermingled with the medium and highdyeing nylon filaments (filaments Band C), the yarn was tufted to carpeting in a manner similar to thatemployed in preparing the all-nylon carpet structures. The medium anddeep-dyeing nylon filaments accepted the acid dyes wherein thepolypropylene filaments remained white or undyed in the carpetstructure. As a result, a higher degree of contrast and a moretweed-like carpet was obtained in comparison to structures prepared fromall nylon. Similarly, to the nylon structures, however, thepolypropylene containing carpet also was substantially free of streaks.

The above examples Were repeated except that the polypropylene wasreplaced with polyester, i.e., polyethylene terephthalate, filaments asthe light-dyeing component. A homogeneous yarn structure was preparedwhich, when tufted into carpet, exhibited the polyester as a white,colorless yarn. The nominally higher modulus polyester remained as partof the homogeneous structure throughout the Various dyeing, tufting,and/ or weaving operations, and similar to the polypropylene, resultedin a high contrast tweed-like carpet structure completely free ofstreaks.

Normally, the synthetic filaments, e.g., polypropylene and polyesters,because of their different stress-strain curves, compressional-resilientproperties, and because of their different modulus characteristics whichchange with moisture level, have a tendency to separate along thestrandular structure which inevitably results in a highly streakedcarpet. However, it was found that the polyesters and polypropylene, forexample, when combined with nylon in accordance with the procedure ofthis invention, resulted in structures which were essentiallystreak-free. Thus, it is obvious that other known synthetic or manmadefilaments may be employed also as one of the colorable filaments inaccordance with this invention to obtain improved structures.

To illustrate that the degree of color contrast is a function of theterminal-amine content of the nylon polymer employed, crimped filamentsfrom polymers A, B and C above having 22, 50 and 78, respectively,milliequivalents of terminal amine-end groups per kilogram of polymerTABLE V Different colorable nylon filaments A B C Amines, meqJkilogm.polymer 22 50 78 Rd scale C4 meter reading 47. 7 22. 4 8. 0 A scale 04meter reading L 9. 9 7. 6 1.4 B scale 04 meter reading 12. 0 38. 7 66 lGardner Model C4.

The color contrast of the different yarns were measured by employing aGardner ModelC4 colorimeter utilizing the techniques described by ASTMMethod D-2244-64T (1964), entitled Evaluation of Color Difference ofOpaque Materials. The Gardner-C4 colorimeter has three scales whichyield numerical color values suited for comparison with the Munsell US.Bureau of Standards Color Values. The scale readings of the Model-C4meter are approximately lineal for the nylon products exemplified bythis invention. If a color combination such as greenish-red isencountered which has both positive and negative values for thepreferred A scale, then the Rd scale is preferentially employed. TheGardner scales are illustrated in the following table:

TABLE VI.GARDNE R SCALES Depth of Color Scale Increase towards Whilevarious synthetic and man-made fibers, such as polyesters, polyacrylicsand polypropylene, may be employed as one of the dyeing components orfilaments, it is desirable to utilize those fibers having similarstressstrain properties. Thus, as a preferred embodiment, thecomposite-yarn structures of this invention may comprise severalfilaments of equivalent stress-strain character, such as the variouspolyamides. However, in addition to the polyamide filaments, polyblendfilaments obtained from polymeric mixtures containing up to about 50% ofa polyamide and a polyester, e.g., polyethylene terephthalate, havesimilar stress-strain characteristics suitable to be employed with nylonin preparing the composite structure of this invention. The polyblendfilaments are more particularly described in copending application Ser.No. 368,028, filed May 18, 1964, now US. Pat. 3,369,057, and may befurther characterized as generally having an amine-end group of lessthan 15 and thus can be employed as the low-dyeing filament of themulti-colorable composite structure.

As examples, for purposes of this invention, the lowdyeing filaments mayhave an amine-end group value ranging from 3 to 35. The medium-dyeingfilaments may have an amine-end group value ranging, for example, from40 to 55, while the high-dyeing filaments may have an amine-end groupvalue ranging from 60 to 100. The formic acid relative viscosities ofthese materials may range from about 25 to 80 and more preferably, from40 to 65.

The individual ends which are composited in accordance with thisinvention may have a denier of 1 to 25 per filament with a total denierof 20 to 5,000. For most end uses which include, for example, upholsteryand carpeting, the total denier per end to be crimped, entangled andtwisted is preferably between and 3500. The preferred denier perfilament for carpeting and upholstery ranges between 6 and 20 denier perfilament.

The differentially dyed polymers for purposes of this invention may beprepared by procedures described in US. Pat. No. 3,090,773, using batchpolymerization techniques and/or by techniques disclosed in US. Pat. No.3,171,829, utilizing a continuous polymerization technique. Thedifferent low-dyeing filaments may be produced, for example, byprocedures more specifically described in copending application Ser. No.426,632, filed Jan. 19, 1965, wherein a dibasic acid is employed as theterminator as follows:

EXAMPLE A About 400 parts of epsilon caprolactam and 0.45 part ofsebacic acid (.24 mole percent) were charged to a vessel equipped withexternal heating means and a horseshoe agitator. Polymerization wasaccomplished by applying steam pressure of 50 p.s.i.g. to the spaceabove the fluid in the vessel, heating to 255 C. within 1 hour, andholding the temperature of the mixture at 255 C. for 1 hour under the 50p.s.i.g. steam pressure. Steam pressure was then released and the vesselreturned to atmospheric pressure, maintaining the temperature of thepolymerization mixture at 255 C. The surface of the agitated polymermass was swept with dry nitrogen gas at the rate of 10 liters per minutefor approximately 10 hours. At this time, after essentially 12.8 hoursat the 255 C. temperature, there was little further increase inviscosity. The polymer was extruded into a warm water bath and choppedinto pellets by inch in size. The pellets were then Washed, and dried toless than 0.1% moisture. The polycaproamide thus produced was found tohave a number average molecular weight of 30,800 and an amine-end groupvalue of 7.

The ultradeep-dyeing polyamides may be obtained by employing variousdiamines as the terminators. The filaments prepared from these polymersmay have a total amine-end group value ranging from about 60 to 100milliequivalents per kilogram of polymer and a ratio of carboxyl toamine-end groups greater than 1 to 3.5. The preferred amines which maybe employed in forming the deep-dyeing polyamide filaments may becharacterized as alicyclic diamines as illustrated:

|CY 2| Y )(Y zry 2|(Y i iY )|(Y fry wherein: X is selected from thegroup consisting of NH H and Y is selected from the group consisting ofCH H, OH,

OCH H -(CH )N(C-H -H and (CH CH and R is a bond between the rings oralternatively, the substituent (CH where n is an integer of 1 to 10.

The medium-dyeing filaments may be prepared from polyamides containingequal acid and amine-end groups. To prepare the preferred polymers, theterminators should have a boiling point above 250 0, preferablysaturated, and should have a basicity of between 1X10- and 1X l- Ofthese terminators, the preferred may include, for example,4-amino-l,2,3,5-tetramethyl benzene and other amino isomers oftetramethyl benzene, 4-amino- 3-methyl-1-phenyl pyrazolone and otherlong-chain primary amines having 10 or more carbon atoms in the chain.In addition, similar saturated alicyclic compounds which were describeduseful for the deep-dyeing filaments may be employed here except that itis preferred that they contain a single amine group.

In a similar manner, the monocarboxylic acids may be employed to givethe proper distribution between the monodiamine and the monocarboxylicacids for the desired number of amine-end groups. Any aliphaticmonocarboxylic acid having a boiling point above 250 C. may be employed.In addition, alicyclic and aromatic carboxylic acids may be used inconjunction with the diamines to give the desired number of amine-endgroups. In general, however, the terminators containing chlorine, nitrogroups, carboxyl groups or hydrolyzable ester groups are undesirablesubstituents for preparing dyeable filaments for purposes of thisinvention. These groups interfere with the polymerization and/or impartundesirable color characteristics to the final polymer.

The method and apparatus which may be used for entangling or comminglingthe fine denier yarns for purposes of this invention are moreparticularly pointed out in copending application Ser. No. 388,592,filed on Aug. 10, 1964, now abandoned. Here, for example, an entangledyarn product is obtained by simultaneously treating a light, colorabledrawn 230/ 32/ 0 Nylon-6 yarn and a darker contrasting drawn 70/ 32/0nylon yarn; said yarns having different propensities toward shrinkingand dyeing. The specific apparatus employed had the followingdimensions:

Guides:

Distance between guides-20.0 mm. Distance between tip of nozzle andmouth of chamber10.0 mm. Inside diameter of guides1.5 mm. Chamber:

Inside diameter of chamber mouth-4.3 mm. Depth of chamber15.0 mm.Nozzle:

Diameter of nozzle orifice-1.5 mm.

The chamber member and the yarn guides are fabricated of AlSiMag ceramicmaterial above identified.

In operation, the yarns follow a Z-shaped path in a plane perpendicularto the axis of the nozzle, each yarn passing through the uppermost guidein the same 135 angle and the yarns being withdrawn through the lowerguide at a 135 angle to the line between the guides. By means of aconstant speed driven take-up roll and upstream tension control means,the tension on the partially drawn yarn is maintained uniformly at 5.0grams and the tension of the fully drawn yarn is maintained uniformly at7.0 grams. The rate of yarn throughput for both yarns is 500 yd./min.Air at a pressure of p.s.i.g. is employed as the entangling medium. Inthe course of yarn treatment the filaments are observed by high speedphotography to separate and oscillate and the yarn as a whole to vibrateand contact the upper and lower portions of the mouth of the chamber atleast times per secopd. The entangled yarn obtained has a coherencyfactor 0 312.

The yarns which are particularly suitable for entanglement orcommingling in this gas jet apparatus include yarns having deniersranging from about 10 to 4,000 denier with individual filament deniersranging from about 0.5 to 16 denier.

For the heavy denier yarns, i.e., yarns having deniers ranging up to10,000, the commingling jet apparatus may be used, which is particularlyset forth in copending application Ser. No. 535,480, filed on Mar. 18,1966, now US. Pat. 3,473,315. Here, the apparatus was employed toentangle untwisted 3600 denier, 210 filament nylon yarns having a zigzagstuffer box crimp, a packaged crimp index of 8.5% and a relaxed crimpindex of 23.5%.

The specific apparatus employed had the following characteristics:

Ratio of area of gas passageway to area of yarn passageway-0.64

Percent of gas which exits from entrance end of yarn passageway94% Angleof gas passageway45 The yarn was fed into the apparatus on a straightline path at a rate of 265 yards/minute and a tension of 22 grams (.006gram per denier). The yarn emerged from the device in a straight line,and a speed of 263 yards per minute. In order to properly center the airstream, the cylindrical air passageway was constructed to be slightlyoff center within the cylindrical Walls of tube and this tube wasadjusted by twisting it to achieve smooth operation forming yarn withalternating zones of commingling and no commingling. A deviation of asmuch as 6 mils in the position of the central axis of air passagewayaway from the plane which is parallel to said axis and also contains thecentral axis of yarn passage was found to make the yarn twist off thefeed rolls, and failed to give the yarn product of the invention havingalternating sites of commingling and no commingling; and even 3 milsdeviation caused the device to run less smoothly.

The method employed to determine the level of entanglement is known asthe Hook Drop Method described below.

HOOK DROP TEST Meter lengths of yarn to be tested are clamped at theupper end and allowed to hang in the vertical position under the tensionprovided by a weight in grams which is 0.20 times the yarn denier (butnot greater than 100 grams), inserting through the yarn bundleapproximately midway within a region of no apparent commingling aweighted hook having a total weight in grams numerically equal to themean denier per filament of the yarn (but not Weighing more than 10grams), and lowering the hook at a rate of one to two centimeters persecond until the weight of the hook is supported by the yarn. Thedistance of hook travel is measured. Since the commingling is fairlyrandom in nature, 100 separate meter lengths are tested to define arepresentative sample for a given package of yarn or for a multitude ofpresumably identical packages of yarn. Of the 100 separately obtainedhook drop distances, the upper and lower 20 values are discarded, andthe remaining are averaged to determine the average distance of hooktravel. This value, D, measured in centimeters, is essentially one-halfthe average distance between sites of strong-enough commingling to stopthe hook travel.

The method of texturizing or crimping the yarns in accordance with thisinvention may include the stulfer box methods, as particularly describedin U .S. Pats. Nos. 3,037,260 and 3,031,734. Other crimping methods mayinclude the jet process, as particularly described in US. Pat. No.3,005,251, and the belt or gear crimping devices as shown in US. Pat.No. 2,751,661. Other apparatuses including the stuffer box crimper whichmay be used to produce the sawtooth, three-dimensional crimp aredescribed in US. Pats. Nos. 2,862,279 and 2,933,771.

Of the various methods, a preferred method which may be used forpurposes of this invention is particularly set forth in copendingapplication Ser. No. 562,893, filed on July 5, 1966, now US. Pat.3,409,956.

Here, for example, a 2400-denier, -filament drawn yarn in the form of astrand spun from polycaproamide polymer of formic acid, relativeviscosity 52 and a different polyamide strand of 40-denier, 12-filamentwas delivered simultaneously to the steam-jet texturizing apparatus at3,000 feet per minute and at a tension of 50 to grams. The angle A ofthe diverging cone 16 measured 30. There were 12 equally spaced holes inthe rear exhaust which measured 0.0595". Steam at p.s.i.g. and 470 C.temperature was directed from a 0.061

diameter steam nozzle, into a preheat tube 4" in length and having adiameter of 0.125 inch. The yarn strand in the preheat tube was heatedto a temperature of about C. and the steam and yarn strands werethereafter directed into the chamber where a yarn plug was formed. Thesteam forced the incoming yarn strand against a slower moving texturedyarn plug in the texturizing chamber. The spent steam escaped to therear through vent holes and provided a blanket of heat around thepreheater tube. The temperature of the yarn was found to drop by about20 to 30 'C. as it moved in a compacted mass to the end of thetexturizing chamber. After leaving the texturizing chamber, the texturedyarn was pulled over several tension bars and wound on a package. Thecrimp definition of the crimped yarn was: crimp elongation before boil10%; crimp elongation after boil 25%; and the free shrinkage 3.0%.

Another method of crimping multi-color yarns in accordance with thisinvention is described in copending application Ser. No. 510,591, filedon Nov. 30, 1965, now US. Pat. 3,406,436. Here, 20 ends of 1,050-denier,70- filament, polycaproamide, along with 20 ends of a different yarn,were fed into a stuifer box at a feed rate of 1425 feet per minute andwound-up on a yarn package at 1160 feet per minute. The gas pressure wasvaried during the process to vary the resistance against the yarn,thereby maintaining substantially constant yarn volume in the stufferbox. The weights placed on the stuffer varied between 1.5 pounds and 5.0pounds. The yarn received a uniform crimp having 14 crimps per inchcontrolled within $2.0 crimps per inch. Still other methods which may beemployed for producing the crimp in accordance with this invention aremore specifically described in copending applications Ser. No. 570,913,filed on Aug. 8, 1966, now US. Pat. 3,373,469, and Ser. No. 603,912,filed on Dec. 22, 1966, now US. Pat. 3,438,101.

In general, the mechanical operations may include ring and travellertwisting, false-twisting, jet-twisting, entanglement by sonic jet,standard jet entanglement, commingling jet entanglement, needlingentanglement, hydraulic jet entanglement, etc.

The texturizing operation for compositing the filaments may includestuffer box crimping, jet crimping, i.e. to produce a saw-tooth,three-dimensional crimp, gear crimping, edge crimping, thermal-shockcrimping a combination of chemical and jet crimping etc.

As a specific illustration, multi-colorable carpet yarns comprise threeplies of yarn wherein each of the plies are prepared from polyamideshaving different amine-end group values. The yarn filaments preparedfrom these polyamides given three-tone dye efiects when dyed withselective acid dyestuffs. The process of preparing these yarn structurescomprises spinning, winding, texturizing or crimping, commingling,entangling, twisting and winding. Usually, the polyamide filaments arespun simultaneously on different spin units under identical extrusionconditions. Each of the three undrawn multi-colorable fi aments arehot-drawn, under identical conditions, using heavy denier draw-winders.These packages of the drawn yarn of each of the three polymer types areplaced in a texturizing creel so that one-end of each type of polymer isplaced in each of the 24 end-feed guide slots. The three differentfilaments are composited into a three-dye level tow in the texturizingdevice. The textured yarn exits the texturizer, i.e., stuffer boxcrimper, and is separated into 24 three-ply textured yarns. The texturedyarn is commingled or entangled to a level of at least 25 entanglementsper meter and then down-twisted to 1% turns/ inch S twist.

The three different polyamides used in preparing the filaments had amineend-group values of 21, 48 and 77, each differing from the other by moreor less than at least 12 milliequivalents of terminal amine-end groupsper kilogram of polymer. The bulk yarns which 'were used to preparecarpets were tufted on a 9-ounce per square yard jute backing. Thecarpeting was dyed with an anionic acid dye (Acid Blue 92), SulfonineAcid Blue-R at concentrations of 0.25% by weight of the fiber, at a pHof about 7, with temperatures of 205 F. over a period of about one hour.Subsequently, the carpet samples were evaluated with respect to coring,chevroning and heatherness.

Other dyes which were found to give excellent results were the AcidYellow 38 (25135); Milling Yellow Acid Red 145 (23905); Acid LightScarlet GL; Acid Blue 92 (13390); Fast W001 Blue R; and Acid Blue 80(61585); Alizarine Milling Blue R, which is an anthraquinone substitutedanionic diacid dyestuff. Improved heatherness may be obtained by using,in combination with the above anionic dyes, various other dyes such as,Disperse Blue 3 (61505), Nacelan Blue FFRN, and Disperse Yellow 3(11855), Nacelan Fast Yellow CG. Dyeing is usually carried out afterbleaching the carpet with 3% by weight of the fabric of sodium perborateand 0.25% ammonia at 165 F. for about 30 minutes with a liquor ratio ofapproximately 50 to 1. The carpet structures are dyed with theappropriate color mixtures which usually contain a wetting agent such asTriton X-lOO. The dye baths are usually adjusted to the desired pH withknown salts, such as, monobasic sodium phosphate, trisodium phosphate,etc.

As suggested, the yarns may contain also various addi tives to impartparticular properties to the finished fabric.

These additives may be incorporated into the filaments either by addingthe ingredients to the polymer prior to spinning or by after-treatmentof the yarn and include, for example, flame-retardants, e.g., antimony,phosphorus and halogen compounds; delustrants, e.g., titanium dioxide;antistatic agents; adhesion promoting agents, i.e., isocyanates andepoxides; heat and light stabilizers, e.g., inorganic reducing ions,such as manganese, copper, tin, etc. Other additives include the amines,fluorescent agents and brighteners, crosslinking agents, bacteriostats,e.g., phenols and quaternary amines, etc. A more detailed description ofthe methods employed in incorporating the various additives into thesynthetic filaments may be found in US. Pat. No. 3,279,974 and CanadianPat. No. 882,293.

Various fabrics and other textile articles may be manufactured from thecomposited-yarn structures of this invention by utilizing well knownmethods including, for example, circular knit, e.g., Double-knit, Jerseyknit, Jacquard-type knit, etc. Alternatively, warp knitting, e.g.,tricot knits, Milanese, Simplex, Raschel, Jacquard, etc., may beemployed. In addition, woven goods may be prepared from the compositestructures and include the three basic weaves, i.e., plain weave, twillweave and satin weave. Other type weaves which may be considered asplain twill or satin-type include, for example, the Bedford cord, theBirdseye weave, the Waflle weave, the Swivel weave, Double cloth weave,Pile weave, etc.

While this invention has been described with respect to a number ofspecific embodiments, it is obvious that there are other variations andmodifications which can be resorted to without departing from the scopeof the invention, as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A process for preparing multi-color or colorable composite-yarnstructures which comprises (1) simultaneously crimping a plurality ofcontinuous, synthetic filaments to a crimp level of 8 to 20 crimps perinch; said synthetic filaments comprising at least two nylon filamentsobtained from polyamides, each dilfering from the other by at least 12milliequivalents of terminal amine-end groups per kilogram of polymer;(2) entangling said crimped filaments to a level of at least 25entanglements per meter; and (3) twisting said filaments to a twistlevel of O to 2.0 turns per inch.

2. The process of claim 1 further characterized in that the relativeproportions of the different polyamide filaments are present in thecomposite-yarn structures in amounts sufiicient to render saidstructures multi-color or colorable.

3. The process of claim 1 further characterized in that said pluralityof filaments used in preparing the compositeyarn structures comprises amajor amount of the nylon filaments obtained from the differentpolyamides and a minor amount of at least one synthetic filamentprepared from polymers selected from the group consisting ofpolypropylene, polyesters and blends of polyesters and polyamides.

4. The process of claim 3 further characterized in that the syntheticfilament is prepared from blends of polyethylene terephthalate and apolyamide.

5. The process of claim 1 further characterized in that at least one ofthe nylon filaments is obtained from a polyamide having 60 tomilliequivalents of terminal amine-end groups per kilogram of polymer.

6. The process of claim 5 further characterized in that at least one ofthe nylon filaments is obtained from a polyamide having 40 to 55milliequivalents of terminal amineend groups per kilogram of polymer.

7. The process of claim 6 further characterized in that at least one ofthe nylon filaments is obtained from a polyamide having 3 to 35milliequivalents of terminal amine-end groups per kilogram of polymer.

8. The process of claim 7 further characterized in that said pluralityof diiferent polyamide filaments used in preparing the composite-yarnstructures are present in relative proportions sufficient to render saidyarn structures multi-color or colorable.

9. The process of claim 1 further characterized in that said pluralityof synthetic filaments comprise at least three nylon filaments obtainedfrom polyamides, each differing from the other by at least 18milliequivalents of terminal amine-end groups per kilogram of polymer.

10. The process of claim 9 further characterized in that the pluralityof continuous synthetic filaments are crimped to a level of 10 to 18crimps per inch and subsequently entangled to a level of 30 to 60entanglements per meter and twisted to a level of 0.7 to 1 /2 turns perinch.

11. The process of claim 1 further characterized in that the polyamidesare selected from the group consisting of polycaproamide,polyhexamethylene adipamide and polypyrrolidone.

12. The process of claim 1 further characterized in that the pluralityof synthetic filaments are crimped to a level of 10 to 18 crimps perinch in a stutter box crimper.

13. A multi-color or colorable, composite-yarn structure compriing aplurality of continuous, synthetic filaments; said filaments comprisingat least two nylon filaments obtained from polyamides, each difieringfrom the other by at least 12 milliequivalents of terminal amineendgroups per kilogram of polymer; said yarn structure having 8 to 20crimps per inch, an entanglement of at least 25 entanglements per meterand a twist of 0.001 to 2.0 turns per inch.

14. A multi-color or colorable composite-yarn structure comprising aplurality of continuous, synthetic filaments; said filaments comprisingat least two nylon fila ments obtained from polyamides, each differingfrom the other by at least 18 milliequivalents of terminal amineendgroups per kilogram of polymer; said yarn structure having 10 to 18crimps per inch, an entanglement of 30 to 60 entanglements per meter anda twist of 0.7 to 2.0 turns per inch.

15. The multi-color or colorable composite-yarn structure of claim 14further characterized in that said yarn structure comprises a majorproportion of the polyamide filaments and a minor proportion of aman-made synthetic filament.

16. The multi-color or colorable composite-yarn structure of claim 14further characterized in that a major proportion of the filamentscomprises at least three nylon filaments obtained from polyamides, eachdiffering from the other by at least 18 milliequivalents of terminalamineend groups per kilogram of polymer, and a minor proportion of atleast one synthetic filament prepared from polymers selected from thegroup consisting of polypropylene, polyesters, and blends of polyestersand polyamides.

17. A non-streaking, multi-colored textile prepared from thecomposite-yarn structures of claim 13.

18. The textile of claim 17 further characterized as being a tufted orwoven non-streaking tweed carpet.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 4/ 1967 Great Britain. 7/ 1965Netherlands.

JOHN PETRAKES, Primary Examiner

